THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE • Albion Theatre

The hail and strong winds that moved through St. Louis Friday night were no match for the storm brewing on the Kranzberg stage in Albion Theatre’s terrific production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane. In the first of playwright Martin McDonagh’s, “The Leenane Trilogy”, The Beauty Queen’s premise sounds pretty ordinary; 40-year-old Maureen is trapped as primary caregiver to her ailing mother Mag, when chance brings Pato, an old acquaintance of Maureen’s into the fray, posing as a beacon of hope for Maureen and an existential threat to Mag. But McDonagh doesn’t really do ordinary. Maureen, Mag, and much of the town it seems, are mired in the isolation of the rugged countryside village of Leenane in County Galway, Ireland, nursing long-held grudges. Playing out in the Folan family’s claustrophobic kitchen (provided by Chuck Winning’s nicely appointed set and Majorie Williamson’s set painting), the bleak state of affairs that McDonagh’s characters are stuck in unfold with reversals that seem inevitable, but still unsettle and disarm you with gasp-inducing jolts alongside surprising fragments of warmth. Martin McDonagh typically doesn’t waste time on lengthy exposition, so I'll try not to go into too much detail here. The less you know, the better. But all in all, it’s really kind of fucked up, but in the best, most captivating way possible.

Pato Dooley (Jason Meyers), Mag Folan (Teresa Doggett)
and Maureen Folan (Heather Matthews).
Photo credit: John Lamb

Mag depends on Maureen for everything from making her Complan (a powdered dietary supplement) to turning down the radio, and Teresa Doggett, consistently reliable in her ability to keep you in the palm of her hand, manipulates with needy demands, and contrives against her daughter in a cold, shameless bid to keep her close. Heather Matthews turns in an impressive performance as Maureen, lobbing increasingly menacing barbs at her mother, while she mindlessly flips through glossies and simmers in a stew of resentments. With steely side-eyed glances and a continuing war of words, Doggett and Matthews handle the play’s power shifts with precision, keeping you on the edge of your seat. Jason Meyers is a marvelously endearing Pato Dooley, who has a lovely moment at the top of the second act, and Austin Cochran’s Ray, Pato’s little brother, brings a welcome bit of levity to the proceedings, serving largely as a device to move the plot along, while he paces around the kitchen with surly agitation. And much to my delight, all of the “Oirish” dialects are bang-on.

Maureen Folan (Heather Matthews),
Pato Dooley (Jason Meyers) and
Mag Folan (Teresa Doggett).
Photo credit: John Lamb

Under Robert Ashton’s insightful direction, everyday routines smolder with mounting tension and tug your sympathies this way and that, and then, right before your eyes, the lines separating protagonist and antagonist vanish. Any opportunity to see one of McDonagh's plays should be snapped up, and Albion Theatre’s splendid production definitely shouldn’t be missed. It’s at the Kranzberg Black Box Theater until the 30th.

THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE

Written by Martin McDonagh

Directed by Robert Ashton

Kranzberg Black Box Theater, 501 North Grand Blvd.

through March 30 | tickets: $34 + fees

Performances Thursdays: March 20 & 27 at 8.00 p.m.

Fridays and Saturdays: March 14,15, 21, 22, 28 & 29, 2025 at 8.00 p.m.

Sundays: March 16, 23 & 30, 2025 at 2.00 p.m.

Ray Dooley (Austin Cochran).
Photo credit: John Lamb

Cast

Mag Folan: Teresa Doggett

Maureen Folan: Heather Matthews

Ray Dooley: Austin Cochran

Pato Dooley: Jason Meyers

Radio Announcer: Paul Gutting

Creative

Asst. Director: CJ Langdon

Stage Mgr./Props: Gwynneth Rausch

Asst. Stage Mgr./Props: Jeanne Whitmire

Set Design & Build: Chuck Winning

Lighting Design: Eric Wennlund

Graphics & Set Painting: Majorie Williamson

Costumes: Tracy Newcomb

Sound Design: Ellie Schwetye

Board Operator: Denise Mandle

Fight/Intimacy Coordinator: Ryan Lawson-Maeske